


Movie Night

by Josh Washington (CaptainSunder)



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Everybody Lives, F/F, Movie Night, Post-Canon, References to Depression, Tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-05 03:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15161876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainSunder/pseuds/Josh%20Washington
Summary: “So what, you want me to just barge into her home when she obviously doesn’t want to see anyone and force her to hang out?” Chris asks incredulously.“No, of course not,” Jess cuts in. “Let me do it, duh."





	Movie Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mageofpie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mageofpie/gifts).



> This was written for [whatsinthemines](http://whatsinthemines.tumblr.com/) as part of the [2018 Until Dawn Summer Gift Exchange](https://untildawn-giftexchange.tumblr.com/)! I chose to do their OTP, Jessica/Ashley, though I'm afraid it's not very romantic. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy!

“Hey you guys, have any of you talked to Ashley?” Chris asks, joining the group spread out over a booth and a neighboring table, sliding his triple meat burger next to Sam’s salad. Sam pulls her food away with a slight frown. “It’s been a month and she hasn’t texted me back. I tried going to her house, but her mom always says she’s sleeping or doesn’t feel well. I don’t think she wants to see me.”

It’s hot out, the middle of summer, and they’re all in the lightest clothes they can find, even in the cool interior of the fast food joint they’d met at. Tanks and shorts, hair pulled up or tied back. Even Chris has abandoned his five coats for a simple t-shirt and khakis.

“Maybe you should leave her alone then,” Emily says, swirling a fry into her open milkshake and leaning heavily against Matt’s shoulder. “Probably tired of your hovering. Give her a break. After everything that happened…” She trails off, and then, uncharacteristically soft, “I can’t blame her. Especially after what you guys told us happened with… Well, what happened.”

With Josh, she means, and everyone knows it but won’t say it. No one’s seen Josh since they dragged him out of the mines three days after they got off the mountain. Jess figures the guy’s probably got enough issues to work through without all of them and their junk added to the mix.

She’s personally not really angry at Josh, but not everyone else feels the same. They went through some tough shit, but everything she dreams about has moon-wide eyes and a drawer’s worth of knives for teeth.

“You guys are all a bunch of pussies is all,” Jessica says, shoving the thought aside. “I hated the hovering, but I hated everyone acting like I was gonna break, more. Ashley’s not the type to look for help when she needs--girl curls up and waits to die.”

“Jess!” Chris says, offended, and Jessica just shrugs, raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of her diet soda.

“Well,” Sam starts, clearly trying to be diplomatic. “She has a point, Chris. When something bad happens, Ashley does tend to hunker down and let whatever it is play out.”

“Like that time she thought she failed geometry and wouldn’t talk to anyone for two weeks,” Matt chimes in helpfully.

“Or when she was late turning in her college application and didn’t go anywhere for days afterwards, cause she thought she wasn’t going to get into college,” Mike adds from across the table.

“Okay, yeah, sure, but those aren’t that bad. We all-- I mean, you know what happened. This is a lot worse than failing a class or forgetting an application. She was really hurt.” Chris says, looking around pleadingly.

“We’re not saying she’s overreacting,” Sam says. “But this is how she copes. And every time she does this, well, how do we always pull her out of it?”

“So what, you want me to just barge into her home when she obviously doesn’t want to see anyone and force her to hang out?” Chris asks incredulously.

“No, of course not,” Jess cuts in. “Let me do it, duh. You know I’m the best at it. Chris, your high school crush makes you too awkward. Sam, I love you, but you’re too goody-goody. And Emily, you’re just a bitch.”

“True,” Emily sighs, sounding not at all regretful of that fact.

“I wouldn’t trust Ashley’s emotional state to Matt or Mike with a 10 foot pole, no offence guys.” They shrug, and Matt inclines his head slightly. “So that leaves me--your local party girl and all around best bet for getting people out of a funk. I mean, look at how well I’ve been doing.” She gestures to her scarred face and the tanktop displaying her mottled arms. They’re muscled, thicker than they were from her cheerleading days.

She’s come a long way from doing exactly what Ashley is doing now. Hiding behind long sleeves and bangs, waiting for something to change, hoping the monsters will go away. They don’t, though. Not without some help.

The group shares doubtful looks, but Jessica just sips her boba tea with a cheshire grin.

\--

“Hey, Ashley, come on out girl! I got something I know you can’t resist!” Jessica calls through the apartment door, banging loudly. It’s on the first floor, and Jessica looks down the hallway out at the parking lot o see if anyone has noticed her yelling yet. Still clear.

It’s silent for a while, and Jessica bangs again. “I know you’re in there! My sources tell me you haven’t left in days.”

“Go away,” she hears faintly through the door. So Ashley is in there. Good.

“Not a chance!” Jessica calls, hoisting the large tote bag on her shoulder higher. “Come on, I can stand out here all day--I have a cheerleader’s lungs and stamina. Now give me an A-S-H--”

The door swings open on a dim, shadowy room, and Ashley stands there in fleece pajama bottoms and a loose tshirt. Her short hair is tangled and shiny, there are deep circles under her eyes, and her lips are red, looking almost chapped. She glares at Jessica.

“Jessica, go away,” Ashley says, voice rough and cracking slightly. “And stop shouting. I’m gonna get in trouble.”

Jessica bulldozes her way into the dark living room, setting a bag on the couch beside the front door. Light filters in through the closed curtains beyond the couch, and Jessica goes over and parts them, half expecting to hear a hiss of fear from the little vampire behind her.

“Girl, you look like a mess, and I cannot stand that in my presence,” Jessica says, turning around and wrinkling her nose in mock-disgust. “Go take a shower real quick, then we can hang.”

“Jessica. Please.” Ashley says through gritted teeth, glaring harder.

“Ashley. No.” Jessica mocks with a teasing grin that fades the longer Ashley continues to look unamused. “Okay, look, everyone’s worried about you. No one’s seen you in a month.”

 

“That’s what I want.” Ashley moves to the couch and slumps down, and Jessica can see the little cocoon she must have disturbed Ashley from. There’s a green and blue afghan that Ashley pulls back over her shoulders, her phone resting on the cushion beside her. An empty cracker sleeve falls to the floor, next to a 2-liter of Sprite.

“No it’s not,” Jess says, dragging her eyes back up to Ashley’s pale, tired face. The detritus of depression is too familiar. “You think you wanna sit here in the dark and self-destruct, but trust me, it’s more fun with friends.”

“Who cares.” Ashley stares at the dark screen of the tv on the opposite wall.

“Uh, everyone, duh. We all care. Look, they sent a care package with me.” Jessica moves back to the bag she left and pushes it towards Ashley. “You’re kind of scaring everyone, and with how I look now, that’s a big feat.”

“But you look--” Ashley starts, finally looking at Jessica with something other than a glare. Almost a guilty look. “Uh, you don’t look that bad.”

“Yeah, say that without stumbling over it next time,” Jessica says wryly. She knows how she looks, knows she gets second-glances all the time, and not in the way she’s used to. In the past she would have been pissed. Scratch that, she is pissed. But now it’s because people give her these pitying looks like she was some victim.

And maybe she was. Maybe she couldn’t do anything but wander around in a dark mine all alone for hours. But she fucking survived it. She’s better now. She doesn’t jump at every dark shadow. She only gets nightmares occasionally.

It’s progress.

“I’m not--ugh, forget it,” Ashley says, throwing her head back against the couch, biting her bottom lip.

“No, what? Don’t hold back on me. Make like Elsa and let it go,” Jessica says, sitting slowly on the cushion with the bag.

“It’s-- you don’t-- you’re not scary,” Ashley says, sounding frustrated.

Jess gives an unladylike snort. “Yeah, okay.”

“You’re not. You look really good. They make you look stronger.” Ashley’s face is reddening. “They suit you.”

Jess thinks her own might be too. She looks away, at the dark kitchenette, her heart beating too loud all of the sudden.

“Well,” Jess says, and can’t even think of where to take the rest of that sentence. “Just-- look at what the dork squad sent you already.” Without looking, Jessica shoves the bag towards Ashley again.

Paper rustles and plastic crinkles as Ashley digs through it. “You brought food. And my favorite snacks. And movies.”

“Yep!” Jessica chirps, finally turning back. “We’re having a movie night. I was gonna take you out, but everyone else said that would be a bad idea.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I can-- yeah. I don’t know. I was just going to. Lay in bed. And sleep. Maybe another time?” Ashley says, voice halting. She’s staring into depths of the tote, at the take out bags and candy packages, but her eyes are glazed.

“Nuh-uh, from what I’ve heard, you’ve slept quite enough. Or maybe not, with the size of that baggage under your eyes.”

Ashley is silent. Jessica gently takes the bag from her, and Ashley’s hands drop to her lap limply.

“Come on. One night can’t hurt,” Jessica says, and bumps Ashley lightly in the shoulder. It feels bony and thin beneath the tshirt.

“Okay. Okay,” Ashley finally says, whisper soft.

“Yes!” Jessica crows, pumping one fist into the air. Ashley’s lips pull up at the corners slightly. “But first, you definitely have to take a shower.” Jessica stands, taking the bag to the kitchenette counter and pulling everything out.

“Do I smell that bad?” Ashley looks down at herself, one hand going to the tangle of her hair, fingers catching in the knots.

“Not really, but you’ll feel better. Trust me.”

\--

Ashley showers while Jessica pops popcorn and reheats the takeout, popping the DVD for a Disney movie into the Playstation in Ashley’s room. There’s nowhere to sit besides the floor or the bed, so Jess steals all the blankets and pillows scattered around the room--some from the top shelf of Ashley’s closet, some hanging over the foot of the bed, some thrown in a pile of stuffed animals in the corner--and piles them on the bed.

With that done, she brings the bowl of popcorn, the snacks, and the foam takeout box to Ashley’s room, setting it on end of the bed, just outside the nest of blankets and pillows.

“What are you even doing?” Ashley asks, standing in the doorway, brush in one hand. She’s in a different set of fleece bottoms, with little foxes wearing glasses on them, and a thin-strapped tank top. Her arms look rail thin.

“Getting ready, of course! Can’t have a proper movie night without a little nest.” Jessica tears her eyes away from Ashley’s arms and pats the pile of blankets.

“What are you, a bird?”

“Yep. I’m the canary in a coal mine,” Jessica says, smiling slightly at her bad joke. “Now hit those lights and get your ass over here so I can brush your hair.”

Ashley flips the switch, plunging the room into a darkness lit blue by the movie menu on the screen, and crawls onto the bed, into the middle of the pillows and blankets. She puts her back to Jessica, handing the brush over her shoulder without argue.

Jessica hits play on the controller and sets it on the little nightstand by Ashley’s bed, then reaches past Ashley’s side to grab one of the foam boxes and drop it into Ashley’s lap.

“I got the best. Fried chicken, steak fries, some rolls. Eat up girl, you look like you need it.”

As Ashley opens the box, Jessica turns her attention to Ashley’s short, water-darkened hair. Starting at the bottom, she strokes through the ends and works her way up. It’s gotten longer since Jessica last saw it. The ends are splitting.

They’re silent as Jessica works the brush through the snarls of Ashley’s hair, but Jessica is a pro. She keeps the tugs light, and doesn’t hear a word of protest. Ashley sits with the box open on her lap, just staring at the cartoon animals on the screen, but eventually she takes a bite of the bread roll, chewing slowly. Jessica grins.

When she’s done, she scoots up next to Ashley and snags the bowl, throwing handfuls of saty, buttery popcorn in her mouth. Out the corner of her eye, she watches Ashley pick up the pace, eating quicker now.

They sit in silence for a while. Ashley eventually sets the empty foam box on the floor beside the bed, and then pops open a bag of gummy worms and chews through it too. Jessica pretends to bump her shoulder against Ashley’s, and then just lets it rest against the sharp rise.

“Why are you even here?” Ashley says, letting the empty packet flutter to the floor and wiping her hands against her pajama bottoms.

“Like I said, we’re worried about you. You’ve shut yourself up in here for a month and won’t talk to anyone.” Jess says, setting the bowl aside. Ashley is ready to talk, and Jessica is ready to listen.

“Yeah but, why you?” Ashley asks, turning, eyes flitting across Jessica’s face.

“Because…” Jessica gathers her thoughts, and tries to put it into words. “I never wanted to be the type to think big thoughts about the nature of things, and… All I ever wanted was a stack of pancakes and a spiked V-8.”

Ashley giggle-snorts, and Jessica smile at the sound.

“But after what happened I couldn’t not think big thoughts. About what happened with Hannah. And whether I deserved it.” Their smiles fade, and Jessica has to look down at her lap. “If I should have died in those mines. If one of those… things should have eaten me. But you’ve always been a big thoughts kind of person. And you probably had it worse than anyone. Josh hurt you, and kidnapped you, and put you in those traps. And you got chased by those things in the mountain too. You faced everything. So I figured, your big thoughts were probably even worse than mine.”

“Big thoughts?” Ashley says, teasing, lips twitching up again at the corners.

“You know what I mean!” Jessica says, shoving lightly shoulder to shoulder.

“Yeah,” Ashley says, soft. “Yeah, I do. But you’re wrong, you know. I didn’t have it worse. You can’t compare what happened to me with what happened to you. Suffering isn’t a game.” She takes a deep breath, letting it out shakily. And then, voice suddenly straining and thick, “I’m not even mad at Josh. I want to be, but I can’t.” Her eyes clench shut, and when they open again they’re glittering in the glow of the tv. “We got his sisters killed. We weren’t trying to, but we pulled that awful prank. I love him like a brother. I thought he saw me like a sister too. But he--”

Ashley’s mouth crumples in, and she bites her bottom lip hard, raising a hand to press flat against it.

Jessica lifts an arm and drapes it across Ashley’s shoulders, pulling her close. She’s stiff beneath Jessica’s arm, taking a shuddering breath, jaw tensing. Her legs draw up against her chest, arms wrapping around them.

“It’s not fair,” Ashley says, a strained squeak.

“I know,” Jess says, pressing her cheek to Ashley’s damp hair. “I know it’s not.”

“What do I even do? I’m so afraid of everything now. I can’t sleep cause I see those things. Sometimes I think I’m losing my mind. Were they actually there? Were they real? And sometimes I dream I’m tied up again, watching Josh being torn apart by a saw. And Chris puts a gun to his head and shoots himself because he won’t let me choose. Only it’s real. It’s all real. They’re all really dead, and I’m the only one left.”

Frame shaking, Ashley leans into Jessica, lifting the hand from her mouth to wrap around Jessica’s neck, pulling them tight together. Jessica rests her hands on Ashley’s back, running her fingers up the knobs of Ashley’s spine. She could count each one.

“It’s not real,” Jessica whispers. “What happened was, and I saw those things too. But if you want, you can see proof any day that everyone else is okay. Chris is going out of his nerdy little mind with worry. We-- haven’t actually seen Josh. No one has. But Matt decided he was going to visit, bring some ice cream I helped him make, and see how Josh is doing. Don’t tell anyone I told you, though--it’s a secret. I think Matt’s worried the others will be mad. Have I mentioned I’m giving Matt cooking lessons? In exchange for help at the gym. That’s why I look like I’m turning into Sam--I get him to spot me.”

“It’s really showing,” Ashley says, and her voice sounds less shaky, though still thick with tears. “You look really good, Jess.”

“Thanks! I uh-- well, after what happened, it took awhile for me to feel okay with going outside again. Looking like this. But going to the gym makes me feel powerful, you know? Like if I had to go up against those things again I might actually stand a chance.” Jessica finds she’s squeezing tight, too tight probably, and relaxes her hold. It’s not a secret or anything, but she hasn’t told anyone about that. About how she’s scared that any day it’ll happen again. That she’ll be thrust into another hell, and she won’t be prepared.

“They really do look good on you. You’re scars. You’re like an Amazon.”

Jessica feels hot, and she can’t tell if it’s the body heat they’re both giving off or the summer weather. “Maybe you should join us, then. Get those little bookworm arms some sun and guns.”

“Yeah, maybe. That might be nice,” Ashley says, and Jessica’s heart leaps in her chest. Then her voice gets shaky again, not with tears, but nerves. “If-- If Matt does talk to Josh, will you let me know how it goes? I don’t know if I could talk to him yet, but I’m worried about him.” Ashley squeezes tighter, digging her face into Jessica’s shoulder.

“You should be more worried about yourself,” she says, returning the squeeze.

“It’s easier to worry about others, though. So I don’t have to think about the real reasons I should be worried.”

Jessica can’t argue that. Finding other things to think about and worry over and do had helped her finally leave the house again. It had taken a while, but she’s found that worrying about gaining muscle at the gym, signing up for classes, and getting through the summer heat has been a good distraction. Living has been a good distraction.

“You know, I have no idea what’s going on in this movie,” Ashley says, sniffling and turning her cheek to Jessica’s shoulder to look at the screen. “I’ve never seen this one before.” She doesn’t let go.

“Movie nights aren’t about movies anyways.” Jessica presses her lips against the crown of Ashley’s head and just rests there.

“Oh really? Then pray tell, what are they about?”

Ashley’s heart beats hard and strong beneath Jessica’s hand, where it’s pressed flat to her warm back.

“Spending time with someone you love.”


End file.
